York woman hospitalized after attack by 3 pit bulls

She is hospitalized while being treated for her wounds

Bonnie Cole had just returned from two weeks in Florida, bringing her grandchildren to York to visit, when she had some time to kill the morning of July 4th.

The family had been planning a trip to Gifford Pinchot State Park, and she thought she had enough time to mow the small lawn in front of her Lincoln Street home. It was only about 11 a.m. The grass was pretty high; it had to be done.

She got out her electric mower — her grandchildren, 8 and 13, watched from the front porch — and had cut two rows when it happened.

"I thought if I didn't run, didn't show fear, they wouldn't bite me."

- Bonnie Cole

Her neighbors' three pit bulls were bounding toward her.

She stood still.

"I thought if I didn't run, didn't show fear, they wouldn't bite me," said Cole, 62, a retired York City School District teacher.

She was wrong.

Two of the dogs lunged at her. She yelled for her grandchildren to get in the house. The dogs bit her arms, tearing the flesh. She went down on her knees, and the third dog bit her legs. She could see the tendons in her right forearm protruding from a gaping wound.

She screamed for help. She wasn't sure whether anybody heard her. Her husband, Joe, was in the house.

It seemed to go on forever, she said from her hospital bed Monday. She isn't sure how long the attack went on.

She could see neighbors on the street, but they were to afraid to intervene. Finally, a man she never met before came to her aid, yelling for someone to call 911 and chasing the dogs away. He held her, wrapping her in a purple blanket and a black hand towel, until the police and ambulance arrived. She still doesn't know the man's identity.

There was a lot of blood. Pieces of her flesh were on the ground.

One of them rides one of the dogs like a pony - and the dogs never showed signs of aggression

- Dennis and Melanie Robinson

The neighbor who owns the dogs was there, crying, Cole said. She said her neighbor told her she would have the dogs puts to sleep.

At the hospital, she had surgery to fuse the tendons in her right forearm. She said the doctor told her that she may only be able to move two of her fingers in unison, since the tendons attached to them were fused. She wondered whether she'd be able to play the piano again.

Her wounds were numerous. Both of her arms and legs were encased in bandages. Her right hand was wrapped with a brace.

The dogs — Scrappy, Junior and Sasha — belong to her neighbors in the 400 block of Lincoln Street, Dennis and Melanie Robinson, who only recently moved into the area.

They had never had any problems with the dogs before, they said Monday. Their kids play with them — even pull on their ears. One of them rides one of the dogs like a pony — and the dogs never showed signs of aggression, they said.

And they said the dogs were properly penned in the back yard, surrounded by a six-foot-tall stockade fence.

What happened was one of the dogs chewed through one of the pickets in the gate between the two houses, and they were able to escape through the gap, the Robinsons said.

"It was an unfortunate circumstance," Dennis Robinson said.

The city police are investigating. The city's animal control officer could not be reached Monday.

But the Robinsons said the dogs had to be quarantined for 10 days and that afterward, the city police would tell them what they have to do.

"We will be in complete compliance with what the city says," Melanie Robinson said, even if it means putting the dogs down.

They aren't sure what made their dogs snap. Melanie Robinson said the one police officer told her that dogs sometimes feel anxiety or threatened by electrical appliances, and maybe that's what sparked the attack.

Dogs sometimes feel anxiety or threatened by electrical appliances, and maybe that's what sparked the attack.

The Robinsons said they felt terrible about what happened. "It's very upsetting," Melanie Robinson said, tears welling in her eyes. "Bonnie is such a sweet lady."

Joe Cole has a clear idea what should happen.

"They should be killed," he said.

As it is, Bonnie Cole will go from the hospital to a rehab facility. She has to regain use of her arms and legs. Walking, she said, is particularly painful as hunks of her calf muscles were torn out.

"I'm afraid to go home with them there," she said, her voice cracking. "I don't know if I want to go home."

Be prepared: if an aggressive dog appears to attack

Pay attention to the dog's body language.

Put a safe amount of space between yourself and the dog if you see the following signals: a tensed body, a stiff tail, pulled back ears, an intense stare, among other signs of aggression.

Resist the impulse to scream and run away. Do not turn your back to the dog.